India and Pakistan

.1954 -the first car preseted by Chinies governmet to " Dalai – Lama" in Tibet. 22 men carry it and passing through 3000 met. High mountan to get to Lahasa Sikkim north India

Abdullah, my brother, is not with me in this journey, but I feel his presence in my imagination. During all the expeditions, as an adventurer, I was eager to feel and face the danger which would probably pup up in each of them but he was restraining. This time I, Issa, go on alone carrying this thought in my mind.

All the last nine days I drove from one city to another. Passing thorough these cities I had many obsessions and difficulties. The passionate fans of Omidvar brothers, who had read about my journey in the magazine, had gathered around me and continuously were encouraging me by showing their kindness toward me. These events did not leave me enough time to write down my memories. In the cities on my way I encountered with great interest of young and old people caused by those news. They made me stay at every town out of their courtesy. Therefore my journey through Iran toward Pakistan lasted longer as I was about to make along the south east. The most enjoyable memory which remained in my mind was due to the accompaniment of a group of my friends from Tehran and the reception of another group from other cities. I continued my journey by keeping this sweet memory in my mind. When I left Tehran I felt lonely, but it didn't last long because some of the acquaintances went with me to the beginning of the road which was led to Qom.

After seeing me off, I drove toward Isfahan and I spend the night in that city.

A good and profetional dentist on the street side will be the one has more tooth on his showcae.Sukkur Pakistan

At 4 a.m. I drove toward Yazd. Before 50 kilometers to the city there was a heavy traffic of buses and trucks. They had chosen that time of the day in order to avoid the hot weather, and it was 40 kilometers to Yazd that a bus speeding about 130 Km/h was coming from the opposite direction and caused that suddenly a big piece of stone fled from the huge wheel of it and gets my car and hit it. The acceleration of the stone was so high that for a moment I closed my eyes unconsciously and when I opened them I noticed that the windshield of my car was totally broken into pieces. I stopped the car and touched my face. Nothing had happened to me.

I did my best to arrive to the city despite of dust and particles which were driven right into my eyes because of the broken windshield. When I reached Yazd, instantly I tried to change the windshield of the car. When I got the store, many youngsters that had read about my journey made me surrounded. They asked many questions. In the moment that we were talking, one of them who had just arrived started to talk with me about Abdullah's death with sorrow; and said:

- At the town there is a rumor that Abdullah is dead when he was traveling to the Pacific Ocean Islands. By saying that everyone expected me to cry but I laughed and in order to make a joke I said:

- Death cannot knock us out! When we got back from South Pole, Abdullah was so cold and was shivering all the time because of the coldness of the Pole and that's why he preferred to reside in one of the hottest bathrooms in the world called Chilly.

Then I got into my car in order to drive through the desert, but the passionate youngsters of the town blocked my way.

At night I was their guest. And at dawn I hurried toward Kerman. I drove one whole day but still there was 15 kilometers left. On a curve of a road two cheerful young men stopped my car. I pulled over and they got close very gentle, and respectfully they welcomed me with a very hard hand shake that I felt paralyzed in my arm. I simply answered to their questions because I though they just want to welcome me, but then it revealed that they had something else in their mind. They were expecting me on that place about one day and a half hoping that one of them can be my company in this journey. The one who was more interested in going with me started to talk about himself, and was trying to describe about the odd things he had done in mountain climbing and cycling. He spent the other half of the day with me. He was insisting that if I give him a week, he would make himself prepared. How interested he was!!!!!!

I left Kerman. My destination was Zahedan. It was so hot on the road. It looked as the road was covered with the lava of a volcano. Although it was not summer time but was so hot that seemed the desert was on fire. But at sunset time it got suddenly cool. A gentle breeze started to blow and the moonlight was shinning all over the desert. In the moonlight the sky and land showed off in different way. The big pebbles which were turned into black because of day hotness were like brilliant diamonds under the moonlight.

At 2 a.m. I got to a gorge at the 20 kilometer before of Zahedan. I was passing the turns of the road in a mortal silence and at last on the last curve I saw the lights of the town which were sparking like stars in the sky. When I got to the town there was reining a strange silence as if I entered an isolated historical one that the lights were the only heredity of this town.

Nobody was in the street. I parked on one side of a street and slept in my car. I had a dream about who had seen me off, friends, strangers that one by one asked me for something or prescriptions. Dreaming about the pills for making breasts larger, long indian wigs, skulls, corpses placed on top of one another in the cellar of Africa disturbed me so much that I opened my eyes and found myself in the middle of crowed who were making so much noise. All of them marched in front of my eyes; the skulls, corpses, pitch black locks, etc. I was more afraid. I stroked my eyes. They were the people of the town that were talking about me and Omidvar's journeys. "Omidvar brothers have the greatest museum of bones and skulls in the world; one of them has bought an igloo in the South Pole and is breeding penguins; another one is going to watch closely the scene of war in Vietnam; …" these were the exaggerations which they were making. When I got up, they were less surprised. They got quiet. One of them walked to me and got closer and kissed me on the face as the representative of others and said:

- The people of this territory, Sistan and Baluchestan, love adventurers; they love legendry and adventure. Legends of Shahnameh have come up from this region. Good luck Mr. Omidvar.

The sun was shining in the middle of the sky when I moved. There was a short distance to the frontier. At night I passed the Iranian border and entered Pakistan. The first roads were too rough. In spite of this difficulty I drove until 2 o'clock after midnight. I reached to the first gendarmerie station in Pakistan. Because of having no much time and the darkness which had made the village near the station sunk into it, I decided to spend the night beside the station. I was so tired, therefore I slept profoundly. The sun had not risen when the Pakistani gendarme woke me up by hitting his hand against my car. I got ready immediately and went to a dark room which was his office. He shook my hand very honest and friendly like other Pakistanis and said:

While he was doing his jobs related to me, he was talking for me about everything as well. He said that he was really upset about the "Shat al Arab" incident and said: -

- I'm so happy to see my brother and friend from Iran.

We consider Iran as our true friend, brother and coreligionist. If one day begins a war between your country and Iraq, we, I mean the people of Pakistan, will fight beside you.

Days after when I met more people, I deduced that the gendarme I had met before was expressing what he really felt because most of these people felt exactly as same as him. These persons who love the culture and Farsi language believed that the progress of their culture and mental maturity is indebted to sweet Persian literature and unique wisdom. While eating lunch in the cultural center of Iran in Lahur where accidentally all the rectors of the universities of Pakistan were gathered, they discussed about the Persian literature and the Iranian poetess's master pieces. The rector of university of Lahur had so much information about Persian literature that made me shocked. He had memorized one piece from every poet.

Baluches forms the most people of the northern and western regions of Pakistan. Honest and brave persons. One of them who was a Shiite told me: "We consider your territory as our origin and that's an honor for us" and then mentioned these two verses:

I became you, you became me

I became the body, you became the spirit

So nobody can say anymore

That I'm one person and you are another one

After leaving the Kuwaite town on the west side of Pakistan, I moved toward the south. It was night but too hot. The thermometer indicated 45 ºC. I had taken all my cloths off and put a wet towel on my legs and every 30 minutes I renew it. I get off the car once in order to check the tires and put my naked feet on the ground but they got approximately burnt. So I jumped immediately into the car. This zone was called "death valley" by the natives. Because many of them had lost their lives because of the hot weather although they were used to it. One of them said that the temperature of the region in summer reaches to 53 ºC so our body blisters and we have to extract the water which gathers underneath those blisters by a needle.

Indians and Pakistanis have to be called the most easterners of the oriental countries. Because they are loyal to their old traditions. Although Pakistan is a civilized land and has developed in many fields but the traditions of its people has not changed in comparison to last years. If you travel by plane surely you will not find such traditions because the cities and buildings are equal to modern countries. But the real and noble life in Pakistan should be seen closely in the small towns. In one of those towns as soon as I got off my car and started to walk in the bazaar for having fun, suddenly someone grab my ear and pulled me to one side while had put a piece of wood in his own ear.

I was so irritated, so I pushed away his hand and shout at him. But while he was pulling me to one side said something in Urdu that I couldn't understand even a word. In the meantime, he picked up a handkerchief and a narrow piece of wood like a match but longer than that which was wrapped with a piece of cloth on the one end and got close to me. As I was very angry I was standing totally confused watching him as he moved. A young man was passing and by noticing my confusion came to me and said in English that this man is a professional ear-cleaner. He cleans and removes the germs of ones ear and receives a very low wage. I paid him also some "peasseh" without getting my ears cleaned and went on my way.

I started to walk through the bazaar. In this bazaar you can see every kind of sellers. Jewelers, shoemakers, cloth dealers, etc. every kind of foods can be seen out side the stores on the stoves and beside them the baker pulls out the hot bread from the furnace. The confectioner puts various trays on fire and takes out the sweet paste put of the bag and puts them in the boiling oil and instantly gives the fresh sweet to his customers. If somebody has a toothache there is no need to any dentist either any appointment. Because the professional dentist has spread out his things in the street beside the store in which vegetables are sold. In this place there's no need to ask others for the best dentist in the town because you will find him. The best dentist is the one who has extracted more teeth and usually in this area every dentist has gathered all the teeth which he has extracted in his small shop window.

I asked one of those dentists:

- How much do you get for extracting a tooth?

- 2 Rupieh (17 Rials), he said.

I laughed. At that moment he saw my golden tooth and said:

-You… Iran… how much?

After 15 minutes of arguing we understood each other.

- 270 Rupieh (2400 Rials) He was surprised and said:

- That's expensive. If you want me to do that I can plate with gold all of your teeth only by 25 Rupieh.

And instantly emptied his hand made yellow tin of plates in front of me and said:

- Come on, look! These are much better and harder that the one you have in your mouth.

In the meantime, came a patient and the dentist seated him on his surgical chair which was made by the boxes of fruits. At first pushed away his gum with his scalpel and before I can take my camera out to take a photo I noticed that he had extracted his tooth, as a small piece of gum and some blood was stuck to it. He showed it to me and said:

- You see, acheh, acheh (good, good)

I could not tolerate that anymore so I went on my way. I had walked for few steps that a polite man took my hand and pulled me toward a fortune teller who had his things spread out on the ground and showed me the man who was sitting beside those strange things and said to me:

- This man knows all the secrets of your life and will tell your fortune exactly.

- Acheh, acheh (good, good), I said.

And as he read my palm, he truly told me all the events that had happened in my life. At this time the young man who had released me from the ear-cleaner came to me and took me to the other places and showed me other odd things.

At noon, the hot weather made me mad. The young Pakistani also could not tolerate this temperature although he was used to such weather. For getting rid of this we went to a restaurant beside which was a hot furnace. As soon as we ordered the meal it got prepared and served. I began to eat with so much appetite that suddenly the hot pepper in the meal burned my mouth. So I only ate some bread and yogurt and then so many oranges because the best orange in here is sold 7 Rials per kilo.

When we were walking along a street I noticed a man who had got all his body tattooed. He had a long and thick beard just like yogis. This man had gathered many customers around himself and the men were the only customers of this corpulent and disheveled hair man. He had various planks in hand on which had nailed up many alligators and big frogs. Of course the alligators were alive and were moving brutally. On the other side there was pan on fire which contained boiling substances. And there were also different bottles consisted of medicines that were used as his means. s

I got thorough the crowd and when it was our turn I asked him what he was doing. But he did not respond because he did not know Farsi. But some people who knew a little Farsi or English made me understood that he uses this means in order to cure the outpatients.

I was so passionate to see him closely so I gazed at his means more carefully. He gutted the alligators and put those inner parts in the pan and then extracts the oil and then sold these oils to the weak patient.

After a while I noticed that this area was the medical center in which doctors were trying to cure the patients. In that place I saw interesting signs that I can not mention them at present. As I was passing I remembered that one of the acquaintances had asked me for such medicine, so I took some peoples' advices and entered the Dr. Abdullah's office.

Dr. Mohammad Abdullah who had 72 years old with a long beard was sitting on the ground having his legs crossed. He had obtained his specialty 45 years ago in India and had started his career right after graduation. When we got inside there were many patients waiting in front of him in a line. So we stood in the line also. There were many bottles of medicines around him. He checked the patients' pulses and diagnosed their problem. His assistant who was sitting beside him wrote the prescription and sometimes guided some patients to another room. It made me curious to understand what is going on in the other room. I got there quietly and recognized that the doctor also visits the outpatients. There was a tall afghan with a long beard outside who was training medical courses under doctor Abdullah's supervision. He was doing his job. He had placed a bucket of medicine containing dredging liquid on the wall and as soon as the doctor sent a patient to this room, this sturdy trainee put the elastic pipe into the patient's body and after dredging him he sent the patient out the room so that receive another one.

Very soon it was my turn. The doctor was also an afghan and spoke Farsi in a sweet way. Before he can check my pulse I told him that I'm from Iran and I need a medicine for enlarging the breasts. If this medicine would be effective then I would buy many of that again.

- "I have a very good medicine for "kheowatin" breast but I have to make it prepared. If you get back in the evening I will give it to you", he said.

He knew most of the oriental medics. "We use the ancient Greek medicine. We have learned so many things from Abu Ali Sina", he said. "I have many students in here who are form India and Afghanistan. I practically teach them how to cure a patient. I prepare their food and home only by 10 Rials. We use herbaceous medicines. We import them from India, Afghanistan, china, and many other countries and prepare them in here by ourselves", he added.

I said goodbye to him because I was going to get back in the evening. My afghan friend also promised me to return after 2 hours and then we would go to "Shadmani" district.

I had enough time until evening so I went to a café. I was like "Hippies" because I was covered with dust and my hair was disheveled as I did not have time to clean myself from the morning.

As I was drinking my tea I saw a black man with thick lips that got close to me and sat beside me. He started to talk with very fluent English:

- Welcome Mr. Hippy. I'm from Karachi. I will stay here for 2 or 3 days in order to do a job. I met many Hippies n Karachi who were going to Nepal. Hippies come to Karachi every other time to work on something and I help them. If you have something to do also I'm at your service. If you go to Nepal and return and needed to trade I know how to help you. I'm a good buyer. I assure you that you won't be regret.

Meanwhile he took out a pack of cigarette and offered me one. "Thanks, I don't smoke now", I said. But he kept on offering. At last I accepted one but with the first puff it hurt me badly and I started to cough for a long time. I instantly recognized that there was hashish and some other things in that cigarette.

I put it away and said: "thank you, I'm not accustomed to these things. I'm not a perfect hippy. I have to start and continue that. s

And he started to talk about the miraculous material which was in the cigarette and mentioned it as the convenient mixture for the youth of 20th centaury.

Listen, Mr. Hippy! If you are going to Nepal and will return to Karachi, don't miss your chance. How much of this substance you bring me from Nepal I will buy.

He put his hand into his pocket and took out a black box and showed it to me. Then he wrote his address on a piece of paper and gave it to me. At that moment my Pakistani friend appeared and the fat moron left me instantly. We went to the doctor and took the medicine which he had promised me to prepare. It was getting cooler so I told my friend from Afghanistan: "it's the best time to drive car on roads. So I want to apologize you and go on my way." "Shadmani" district can be seen in Lahur also.

So that I thanked and said goodbye to him and drove in the narrow streets and turns of the city. The signs which were written in Urdu diverted my attention. "Danger Bridge" (dangerous bridge), "behavior limit, 40" (top speed, 40), "pass for soft-behavior vehicles" (pass for slow-moving vehicles), "sharp limit for carts" (top speed for cars), the people who speak Urdu call the word car as cart.

There were other interesting signs. But one of them attracted me the most. It reads "khewatin's work hand" (women handcrafts center).

In the world of today, India is known as the greatest democracy of the world. In fact, it is true. But the distinction of India is not only because of this. There are many wonders in that territory that you will see them in every step that you get. Maybe it's the only country that during tens of centuries has not changed much from the spiritual, moral ad religious point of view. In this extended land which can be considered as a huge continent and is faced with the daily reproduction problem, exist so many different cultures, religions and traditions. So you can not even describe part of these in just one book. Each state of India has its own language, culture, and civilization that can not be found in other states. In the south of India many different languages are used. Some of them are: Telengi, ketri, tamel, melialem and sanhali. These languages are too old and belong to the native Indians and are called "deravidi" and were used before the entrance of Arians in this country. More than 25 up to 40 million people speak in these languages. But none of them can understand the other languages. In each state reigns a specific wedding ceremony and way of life. In one state the father ask a daughter to marry to his son. In another one the daughter asks a boy to marry her. In another place the girl before marriage no eats and drinks for 40 days. In another region the girl tests his future husband in EVERY FIELDS. If you make a list from the jobs that exist in India you will find so many unknown jobs that you haven't heard of them in whole of your life either in any place. Being a yogi is considered as a job. Betting, burry oneself for hours and days and then stay alive and won the bet, is another job. And so many other stupid and unknown jobs.

In India in addition to tens of new and old religions which are accepted, there are three thousand other religions. One of the oldest of them which is very popular is Hinduism. Regarding to that you will see hundreds of disagreements and rancor. Some these rancors sometimes led to huge killings. Although nowadays the Indian government controls intensively these quarrels but these killings happens sometimes.

One faction defiles the other one. One group rejects another group. The Brahman of center India does not let their daughters get marry the sons of Bengal Brahman. They do not eat their food and receive their letters by a special kind of tongs.

The land of wonders!

After the wedding if the husband passed away, his corpse was burnt on fire and his wife would throw herself into the fire so their ashes got mixed. But when Pandit Nehro was alive he prevented that such things happens.

After passing from Darjeeling, Butan and Sikim which were situated in the mountain slope of Himalaya we reached to the forbidden area, "Tibet". In this region women could choose many husbands legaly. In a part located in the northeast of India this traditions was obeyed in old days.

In spite of these varieties, these people are inseparable. Up to now 200 sociologists from India and other countries have tried to understand the social nature of these people. But they could not get succeeded.

Meanwhile the Indian government is really in trouble. The authorities of this country say:

"The governor of India will never be born!" according to the statistics, the prime minister of India has to listen to the news of 20 up to 25 religious conflicts in a day, visits 110 common people (who speak in 25 different languages and believe in 10 religions) and make 6 speeches in 4 different languages in a week for who believe in 14 different religions.

According to Churchill: "I prefer to be the prime minister but I can't tolerate to become an editor of a magazine." But Nehru, the former prime minister of India had said: "I want to be the editor of a magazine but not the prime minister of India.

" Young Indians have a new expression. This expression in my opinion can not be translated. But it can be said in this way: "before do suicides try to be the prime minister of India! In other words, the only person who is tired of his life may accept to become the prime minister of India. So when these people want to say that somebody has committed suicide they will say: "he became the prime minister".